Committee Meeting
(as postponed from Tue 9th Jan)
AGM
Annual General Meeting
(as postponed from Wed 17th Jan)
Immediately after our AGM we have a talk about Bicycle Engineering: Past, Present & (Possibly) Future.
Our speaker hails from the most prominent cradle of bicycle engineering in our country, and in talking with him it was clear that he was indeed an Apprentice in that very cradle ....🙂
Looking forward to meeting you at these two meeting.
I will prepare agendas for both meetings and circulate the AGM meeting's programme to all of our members.
Durrington
Our last exhibition of the year at The Durrington Village Show and Vintage Vehicles.
The Wright stuff
Richard Lee will be telling us all about the Wright brothers
Group outing to Beaulieu
The main attraction is of course the National Motor Museum, but there are a lot of other attractions which account for the rather stiff entry price of £27 (for the over 60's, but £3 cheaper for the under 60's).
(More details to follow)
The 'Picnic'
This evening is when we have our annual dinner (aka "Picnic").
Dave Murray is organising this event.
In August the Hall has further improvement work to be done, so we are not able to use it.
However, in September we will return to normal 3rd Wednesday working up until Christmas......and beyond into 2025 !
Telecoms in Salisbury - Leading the way for the UK
Dave Tonks will be explaining to us about the way Salisbury's aging phone network is going digital!
Salisbury is the first town in the UK to transition from copper-based telephone lines to an all-digital FTTP (fiber to the premises) phone network.
To wean people off copper, BT instigated a "stop-sell" policy in the area, so that no new contracts for copper-based phone lines could be issued, and all new phone contracts would be for the new fiber service.
This will provide clearer phone calls, and high speed broadband for Salisbury's residents.
Turbine manufacture and performance
Richard Lee will be discussing the intricacies of turbines and also (we believe) revealing the story of Turbina.
(Turbinia was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time; it amazed the navies of Europe.)
The Wilton Windmill
Charles Baxter is coming to tell us about the History of the
Wilton Windmill, and he will also educate us about the technicalities of Windmills.
How do you mean that you didn't know that Wilton had a Windmill ? No, I didn't either,
but it turns out that the Wilton Windmill is near a small village called Wilton, that is just
about a mile south of Great Bedwyn. Great Bedwyn is just off the A338 road to
Hungerford if you are travelling by car from Salisbury. Thanks to an heroic restoration
program in the 1970's using much voluntary labour etc, the Wilton Windmill is now
the only working Windmill in the Wessex region, and here we are in the next century being
very green, grinding flour and consuming bread and cakes by the power of wind...
As a child I lived near a Windmill that was not active and I have wanted ever since to get
the opportunity to know more about them, so I am looking forward to hearing more of
Charles' talk. He doesn't ask for a fee for himself, but a contributions for the upkeep
of the mill are much appreciated, and he also sells an excellent booklet that makes a profit.
The Christmas Party
We will be having our Winter Natter Night party to celebrate Christmas and to debate our Model Engineering
plans for 2025. Our dedicated Catering team will be putting together a luscious spread of
substantial snacks, so please don't arrive having had a significant dinner before you left home!
Reminder:
Do come with ideas for our activities in 2025. Many of the
best of our "3rd Wednesday" indoor meetings have been when
two or more of our members have each given a "Mini" talk, and as
you may remember, we have also had topics that were not necessarily
very close to Model Engineering, when the speakers have shared
their personal interest(s) with us.